Papers to minimise fade with aftermarket dye inks.

[peter D]

Here is a preview of the Giant Image swellable paper fade test derby so far.
Today I've scanned two of the 5X7 prints at low resolution (75dpi) on Canon D1250U2 flatbed scanner and posted them here to see how viewable they are on this website before continuing with more scans of the other prints that made up the test (derby).

Below we have a print made on Canon Semi Gloss (SG201) paper (standard good quality micro porous) and one made on Baoding Giant Image Swellable Satin. Care was taken to mount the prints onto acid free art paper to isolate them from the mat card that was used as a backing.

CANON PHOTO PAPER PLUS SEMI GLOSS - LIGHT + OZONE .................................... BAODING GIANT IMAGE SWELLABLE SATIN - LIGHT + OZONE

Both started out looking very similar and both were exposed to light (inside a dwelling thru glass) and the atmosphere which I've referred to as ozone for convenience.
Although the light exposure is very moderated the atmospheric exposure isn't as I live close to a surf beach and salt spray affects everything even indoors.
The fade test exposure time period is now close to 2 months.
The prints were made on a Canon Pro100 and the dye ink set is by Precision Colors and the printer settings used recorded on the back of the prints to enable them to be compared with fresh reprints.
Visually the prints look lighter to my eye than the scans of them appear here on my monitor.

The fade test results so far for Giant Image swellable satin paper are to my eye identical to the results for their swellable gloss paper which was used for most of test prints.

In a day or two I'll post the more nuanced part of the test which attempts to isolate the effects of light from those due to atmospheric exposure alone and also show the swellable paper print that was protected from the effects of both as a control.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

very interesting overall how good such a swellable paper performs, the gray patches show how the colors are shifting .

 

[peter D]

Another four images all made on Baoding Giant Image Gloss Swellable paper printed with a Canon Pro100 using Precision Colors dye inks. Again the term "no ozone" refers to measures taken to limit exposure to the atmosphere in my living room and "light" refers to light falling on the prints indoors through lightly grey tinted window glass.

GIANT IMAGE GLOSS SWELLABLE - NO LIGHT NO OZONE (behind glass).................GIANT IMAGE GLOSS SWELLABLE - LIGHT NO OZONE (behind glass).

GIANT IMAGE GLOSS SWELLABLE - LIGHT + OZONE...........................................GIANT IMAGE GLOSS SWELLABLE - OZONE ONLY.

With the bottom right image (Ozone only) I used a top hung light shield consisting of a piece of black card suspended a 5 millimeters or so from the surface of the print to try and exclude most of the light. The shield would also have had a small moderating effect on airborne salt settling on the surface of the print. It is evident that this print is showing very similar fade characteristics to the control print that was mounted behind glass and had a tighter fitting light shield fixed over the glass ie. it demonstrates the ability of the prints made on swellable paper to resist fading which is due to atmospheric influences.

This concludes the interum results of the test on Giant Image Swellable paper and only leaves the results for HP Premium Plus High Gloss swellable paper to be posted. For this I shall make a fresh print with the same ink cartridge set to give a fair comparison.

 

[peter D]

Finally then the image printed on HP Premium Plus Gloss High Gloss swellable paper is compared with a fresh print on the same paper with the same inks and settings made earlier today.

HP PREMIUM PLUS HIGH GLOSS SWELLABLE - LIGHT + OZONE ...............................HP PREMIUM PLUS HIGH GLOSS SWELLABLE - FRESH PRINT 20-01-2018

To my eye the results are pretty good here as well and definitely comparable to the Giant Image paper. This paper is also heavier (280gsm) and has less of a brilliant white appearance than the Chinese paper in fact it is somewhat cream compared to fresh plain paper and even Canon's photo paper plus Glossy II and Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi Gloss papers.

As Mikling has previously pointed out one has to be very careful when selecting this paper in store because it has been replaced by a microporous version with almost the same labeling and packaging but a slightly different weight (300gsm) and to my knowledge the words "Instant Dry" and "works with all inkjet printers" appear on the front of the box. This is not a swellable paper and will not give the results shown above.

I have only one test result to add that doesn't warrant displaying a pix at this stage: A print made on Giant Image Satin Swellable which had been over sprayed with Helmar fixative spray (a very thin transparent flat laquer) was added to the test on day two and to my eye the over spray appears to have had no positive effects on the fading outcome what so ever.
I intend to investigate whether the fixative over spray adds any waterproofing quality to the prints made on Giant Image paper as the paper in listed in the Giant Image tech specs as not waterproof.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Some insight into the complexity of testing and judging the effects of optical brighteners - OBAs - is presented here

http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/optical-brighteners-obas/

 

[palombian]

Very interesting, thanks for all this research.

Seems we should plan a swellable paper volume import to Europe ?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Seems we should plan a swellable paper volume import to Europe ?

The most practical way would be that BaoDing would start sales via Aliexpress for smaller, end-user oriented
volumes or a European ink/consumables shop would be interested but I'm afraid that an overall small business volume would result in some non-attractive pricing.

 

[flyboy]

What a fascinating thread!! Thanx

 

[slackercruster]

If you are using dye inks you are just asking for fade trouble. Dye stinks for fade resistance. You have to use pigment inks for fade durability. Pigment inks will take a year of direct sun with little or no problems.

 

[peter D]

"You have to use pigment inks for fade durability."
My argument on this issue is simple, Canon recoqnised that dye printers have their place and introduced a special inkset for them that minimized fade however that inset for the Pro100 is expensive and for those of us that are refilling there are other options such as the swellable papers and precautions around UV exposure.

I produce only prints for my own use these days and most of them go into an album or are otherwise stored in boxes away from exposure to light. Those that are on display can be framed and the framing glazed with Pexiglas Gallery a product that cuts 99.y % of the UV light. There are also UV barrier sprays but I can't comment yet on their efficacy.
The main contributor to fade with dye inks is atmospheric exposure and this is certainly very well mitigated by the use of swellable papers.